Yoga is a means. In the yoga of Sri Aurobindo, Work means the work that we do with our will to convert the human to the divine. Devotion means adherence to that project. The yoga of Knowledge, vijnyana, includes devotion and work, but it primarily means knowledge of the integral truth of material and spiritual existence. In Sri Aurobindo’s integral yoga the teaching includes, shastra, karma, asana, and mantra among well known methods or practices. But it is unique, perhaps, in that the emphasis is not so much on spirituality per se, as on evolution – not just development of awareness and cosmic consciousness, but actual speciation. The human being is seen as a transitional vehicle towards another species. We are the mental species; the next will be a spiritual species. Another unique feature of Sri Aurobindo’s teaching is that it is a teaching in English; the mantra – Savitri – was written in English, at a time when English has become the global language. It is also a time when the viability of the human species may be put seriously in question. Spiritual paths may become evolutionary pathways.

These were the themes of presentations not only at Savitri Solar Dome this year but also at Auromesa/Taos and Hummingbird Ranch in New Mexico. As a result of the extension of our activities beyond the borders of Crestone, and because the presentations this year were based on lectures given at the University of Human Unity in Auroville - on Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy of evolution and poetics, we are addressing a wider audience. And we are taking a more systematic approach to providing an introduction to this yoga teaching. Putting it in the context of developmental psychology, as well as evolution, shifts the focus radically away from more typical socio/religious limits, in an effort to stimulate thinking and searching for an inspiration and spiritual practice that engages actively with life. That is of course the purpose of the Auroville community in India.

We are happy to have had groups, both here and in New Mexico, that included professors of philosophy, ayurvedic and shamanic healers, practicing ecologists and artists, among both visitors and local members, who happened to also be good cooks. We are therefore progressing rapidly towards a yoga of fine dining along with the lightning force of transformation. Another activity engaged in by the group was environmental stone sculpting on the vast desert plateau of our sister center at Auromesa. Stability, beautifully symbolized by the collection and patterning of stones, is essentially an aspect of the universal divine Shakti – only really achieved by Her. Along with the delights of fellowship and food, canyon explorations, hot springs baths, and the luminous word of Savitri, we have glimpsed, perhaps, or tasted, briefly, the rasa of Immortality. From our wonderful mother mountain into the four directions, light streams forth as ever.